On Moving Away by Heather Ake (Guest Blogger)

Hello, readers! For those of you who don’t know, my name is Heather, and I’m Michael’s daughter. I’m currently a theatre major and French minor at Oglethorpe University. Recently, I moved into my first grown-up apartment. Instead of living just a door away from my family, I’m a two-hour drive away. That doesn’t mean I’ve been able to get rid of them by any means; they’ve come to visit several times, which I don’t mind at all. 

Thanks to my dad, music has always been a central part of my life. When I moved, I’m sure he was worried about how much I could change while I was away. When he came to visit me most recently, I told him that I had borrowed a record of his favorite album by The Police- “Synchronicity” (which I highly recommend if you haven’t listened to it already.) I borrowed it because I wanted to have an element of our relationship as father and daughter with me through the music we’ve listened to together. Once he buys a turntable to keep at home, I’ll return it, but until then, I’ll listen to it and appreciate it for both of us. 

My parents were gracious enough to allow me to adopt a stray kitten during my last couple of months at home. His name is Turtle, and he’s just over three months old now. Taking care of him has definitely shown me that I have more of a maternal instinct than I thought I did. I appreciate the ways in which he’s served as support for me more than his little mind will ever be able to fathom. His presence as my emotional support animal has alleviated many of my anxieties and worries so that my self reflection can be more constructive. I firmly believe that if my 13-year-old self, trapped in the middle of some of the worst events I’ve lived through, were to see him and my apartment, she’d rejoice at the fact that we survived and are thriving. 

Moving has provided me a very much needed time to reevaluate myself. Gaining physical and mental distance from where so many formative events of my life happened have allowed me to see them from a fresh point of view. In a way, I almost feel like I’m seeing them from an out-of-body perspective. I see the girl I used to be as someone entirely different now, which has allowed me to give myself so much more grace. I endured a lot during my time in Chattanooga, good and bad; now I can be free from the bad memories while still embracing all of the good. Atlanta is a beautiful city and I love every morning I wake up to the train rumbling by my window, but a part of me will always miss the sunsets on the ridge.